STARBUCKS’ new chief executive officer Brian Niccol is wasting no time rearranging the company’s top ranks, undoing some leadership changes his predecessor had implemented only six months earlier.
Niccol has eliminated the role of global chief merchant and product officer held by Lyne Castonguay, a position created by ousted CEO Laxman Narasimhan as part of a broader reorganisation in March. Castonguay, who was in charge of product development, consumer insights and data science, is no longer with the company, a Starbucks spokesperson said in response to an enquiry from Bloomberg News.
Since joining on Sep 9, Niccol has moved quickly to address the company’s sales slump after two straight quarters of negative results led to the surprise exit of his predecessor.
On Niccol’s second day on the job, the former Chipotle Mexican Grill chief came out with the broad strokes of a plan to gin up growth by making Starbucks cafes more inviting, improving workers’ experience and speeding up morning service. He has also sought to put in place the leadership to achieve those goals.
Starbucks last month announced that Michael Conway, who Narasimhan had named as CEO of North America, planned to retire. Instead of filling Conway’s role, Starbucks said it would appoint a global chief brand officer overseeing marketing, product, creative, digital and data – a similar type of role that Niccol created at Chipotle after he took over as CEO in 2018.
Starbucks seeks to deliver “a compelling and consistent brand experience across every customer touchpoint,” a spokesperson said of the moves. “This is best done when there is clear accountability under a single leader – a global chief brand officer.”
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Niccol also removed a layer of management between him and Sara Trilling, the North America president who focuses on store growth and retail workers, who will now report directly to Niccol.
In China, Niccol appointed Molly Liu as the sole leader of the China business. Last year, Liu had been named co-CEO alongside Belinda Wong, who had been in charge of the business since 2011 and will move to a different position in the China business. Wong will stay on as chair, leading innovation and the development strategy. Starbucks said the change was part of a planned leadership transition.
An experienced restaurant executive, Niccol got more power than his predecessor from day one. Unlike Narasimhan, Niccol assumed the role of board chairman alongside the CEO title. Niccol also avoided a five-month training programme the prior boss undertook with longtime leader Howard Schultz before taking the reins.
The added responsibility, though, has come with high investor expectations: Starbucks shares have risen 26 per cent since Niccol was announced as CEO through Tuesday’s close, compared to a 6.8 per cent increase for the S&P 500 Index. The shares were little changed at 9:41 am in New York trading on Wednesday. BLOOMBERG
